Hi all,
How did we get to the place church culture focuses on being 'born again' rather than making disciples?
I
made a statement last week that Jesus never told us to get people born
again. That is true. He had a private conversation one night with a man
named Nicodemus, recorded in John 3, in which Jesus explained what
happens when a person believes with the intent to become a
disciple, likening it to being born a second time, but by the Spirit of
God not regular birth. That is true.
That
was one private conversation between Jesus and 1 man, not a teaching.
There is no parable to the masses about a born again mustard seed. There
is no 'Sermon on the Born Again Command'. It was a private conversation
late at night between 2 people and never was that conversation repeated
or enlarged upon as a general teaching or command, nor seen in the
other gospels nor epistles.
Yet
a whole church culture has been built around the efforts to get people
born again with the goal of 'closing the deal' by getting someone to
"pray the prayer of salvation" with us. WRONG! THAT ISN'T IN THE BIBLE.
What did Jesus really say?
"All authority is given to me both in heaven and in earth. Go therefore to all nations...teaching them to observe and to do all things I've commanded you..."
In
Acts 2, when Peter preached at Pentecost, did he ask everyone 'with
every head bowed and every eye closed' to pray a prayer (along with the
120 so no one would feel embarassed) so they'd be born again? When Peter
went to Cornelius' house in Acts 10 to tell them about Jesus, did he
ask for a show of hands for all who wanted to pray a "prayer of
salvation" so they'd be born again?
No
where do we see any of the apostles preaching being born again, nor
leading them in a seeker friendly non-embarrassing "prayer of
salvation." The prayer of salvation is one of those man-made doctrines
that people assume is in the Bible, but isn't.
The
reason you don't see it in the Bible is the apostles were obeying
Jesus. Jesus said "...teaching them to observe and do all things I've
commanded you", and within Jewish culture of the day, it is automatic
that the discipleship process is relationship based. In other words, they can't observe and do all things Jesus commanded me unless they observe me doing all things He commanded me!
THAT
is the Great Commission, to let others see Christ in us so they may
learn from us. Paul said imitate me as I imitate Christ, and when people
express amazement over that statement it reveals they don't understand
the culture of the kingdom of Jesus. Paul was merely restating the Great
Commission - observe and do what I observe and do. (I Corinthians 4:16, 11:1, Ephesians 5:1, Philippians 3:17, etc)
Oriental culture - Israeli culture
Israeli culture
is oriental. That is why Israel is said to be in the Middle East. China
and Japan are called the Far East, but Israel is still in the east, it
is oriental. Thus we see customs like bowing at the waist from Abraham
through the gospels, in some cases people meeting Jesus by falling to
the ground in obeisance to Him just as we see in Oriental royal court
protocol. Ancient Chinese art shows their leaders seated on a
chair carried on poles on the shoulders of servants, and we see the Ark
of the Covenant carried on poles on the shoulders of the priests in the
Old Testament. Israel is Oriental.
Another
part of being Oriental is the honoring of parents and elders, this
honor flowing outward from home and family to others through multiple
generations. The older are expected to train up the younger, and having a
meal at one's house is the highest form of fellowship there is.
Gnosticism revisited, the making of false brethren
Greek culture however is not based on relationships, it is idea based, concept based, mental ability based.
When
Paul was in Athens, Greece in Acts 17 he preached Jesus just as he had
done elsewhere, but this time they laughed at him when he brought up
Jesus being raised from the dead, while others asked him to return the
next day to share more about his concepts and ideas.
They
had no intention on believing in Jesus, they just wanted to hear new
ideas, new teachings, filling their itching ears and journals with
revelations from this new teacher. As a result we don't find a strong
group of believers in Athens. There is no letter to the Athenians. They
just wanted to hear ideas.
A little history
As
the church became more Gentile/Greek in culture in the late 200's and
early 300's AD and less Jewish/Oriental, it became more intellectual and
less relationship based. The church met in homes for the first 300
years, not due to persecution as some would suppose, but because the
first church in the house was Adam, Eve, and the Lord, for where 2 or
more are gathered He is in their midst. He invented home and family. The
early synagogues were meetings in homes with several families, so at
Pentecost they just continued what they had been doing, meeting in
homes. God has never left the home and family as His primary and
preferred way of bringing revelation and the knowledge of God into the
earth.
By
the 300-400's AD Christianity had been legalized and Christians were
called out of home meetings to meet in former pagan temples along
side existing pagan temples still in operation, which were auditorium
and podium structured. In those structures a single priest had to be in
charge to lead the people, thus the function of pastor was elevated for
the first time in history to be the lone voice of God week to week.
Rather
than being participatory in nature as the home meetings where, the
auditorium requires just 1 person to speak, sharing concepts
and ideas with the masses assembled. Ideas from the pulpit require no
relationship with anyone, for they are just principles,
concepts, thoughts on how to tackle this or that problem. Notes are
taken, journals filled, but they are merely 'new revelation', not
something lived out in relationship with others.
That
is the point where an emphasis on being 'born again' separated from
being a disciple. Up until that point being a disciple meant you were
born again. But when Greek thought started dealing with ideas and
concepts from a pulpit rather than in home and family based
demonstrations of how to live and walk with God, the concept of being
born again came to stand alone as its own doctrine, now separated from
the process of discipleship.
First relationship is with the Lord, and if flows from there
When
the gospel gets dissected into ideas and concepts alone rather than
ideas and concepts imbedded within the discipleship process
involving multigenerational relationships, we end up with an anemic
body of Christ that is used to being spoon fed ideas, but with little
practical knowledge on how to walk with God in those concepts. People
who are hungry for God find themselves hungry for more but don't know
why. Their heads are filled with God's concepts, why aren't they happy?
Why do they feel so empty?
Today
many in the body of Christ are discovering they are hungry for God
though they go to church. They are tired of being fed principles and
concepts they've heard many times before; they are looking for
relationships and real 'meat' in their faith.
"Teaching
them to observe and to do all things I commanded you" requires you see
in me what He commanded me. The Great Commission is about walking with
God within relationships, flowing from the individual in the home and
outward to naturally existing spheres of relationships - family,
friends, neighbors, co-workers - which are seen throughout the gospels
and New Testament letters.
Next
week I'll share prophetically some things the Lord has told me this
year about what He is doing in the body of Christ, and what we'll see in
the coming years, which will tie this series together.
Until then! Blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com
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